Monsters and Men ~ Rosenwalker & Richpez

Chapter 48

He reached down and grabbed his shoes, which he had no memory of kicking off but evidently he must have at some point in the night. As he wrestled them on and tied them, he felt a hand on his back. He glanced back to see Brian looking up at him through half closed eyes, evidently still half asleep. As Joe shifted around, Brian stirred, rubbing his eyes and groaning in pain. "Good morning." Joe whispered.

"Is it though? Is it really?" Brian teased, moaning as he attempted to prop himself up on his elbows.

"You might wanna take it slow," Joe insisted, nervously reaching out and stroking Brian's hair. To his relief, Brian seemed to melt into the touch.

"Where, where are you going?" Brian asked, almost sounding desperate.

"Just gotta run home for a bit so my parents know that I'm alive." Joe whispered. "Grab my car and stuff."

Brian nodded. "So you're... you're not going to see Zoey?"

He felt his heart skip a beat. Did Brian really think that that's what he was doing? "Absolutely not." He answered, staring down at him longingly. "Just going to run home; I probably won't have time to make it back here, but I'll see you before the first show." He reached out nervously—considering part of him truly believed that Brian hated him—and caressed the younger boys cheek. "Okay?"

Brian placed a hand on top of the one on his face, squeezing it warmly. "Okay. I'll... I'll miss you."

Joe felt his face heat up, taking his hand off of Brian's face and intwining it with his. Even first thing in the morning, busted and bruised, Brian looked so adorable that it filled Joe's stomach with butterflies. He really wanted to kiss him goodbye. Should he? He felt himself starting to lean in before he could come to a decision, trying to look anywhere but at Brian's eyes. What if he didn't want him?

He made a dive instead, wrapping his arms around Brian in a hug. To his relief, Brian hugged him back tightly, clinging to him as if he would be taken away when he let go. "Thanks for staying with me last night." Brian whispered.

Joe broke into a smile as he pulled away. "You don't have to thank me for doing something that I wanted to do." He stood up slowly, really not wanting to leave Brian. "Can I, can I get you anything before I go? You need ice, or water, anything?"

'I need you to not go back to Zoey.' Brian thought desperately. 'I need all of this to be real right now.' He forced out a laugh and a smile. "You're so sweet, but nah I'm okay. I'm probably going to try to get some more sleep while I can."

"Good idea, you should get as much rest as possible," Joe said with a nod, leaning in a kissing Brian's cheek before he could talk himself out of it. "Take care. Rest up. I'll see you soon."

xXx

As soon as Joe had left, Brian had texted Joey to come keep him company. He'd been lying when he'd told Joe that he was going to try to go back to sleep—his anxiety was through the roof and his body was aching all over with pain.

To his relief, his best friend walked into the room five minutes later, holding a bottle of water and an ice pack. "What's up good buddy?"

"Aw you know, my body and mind are a mess. Same old fun stuff." He said with a wink as Joey handed him the ice pack. "You're a lifesaver." He told Joey as he put the pack onto his eye. "How are you?"

Joey shrugged. "Could be better, in all honesty."

"Oh? What happened?" Brian asked. He slowly adjusted so that he could sit up, even though his body was screaming in protest. "Something with Lauren?"

Joey bit his lip, before shaking his head. "I—don't worry about it. It's not a big deal." He felt guilty—why had he immediately just started talking bout himself? "You have enough shit to worry about right now. I'm sorry."